The Great Debate UK
Most scenic airport touch-downs picked in web contest
St Maarten Princess Juliana International Airport boasts the world’s most visually appealing landing, according to respondents of a survey.
Private jet bookers PrivateFly.com asked travellers and an expert judging panel for their bucket list of global descents.
Passengers touching down onto the Caribbean island of St Maarten can feel they are landing among the sun-loungers as the descent is just metres from the beach.
“The approach begins over an expanse of blue Caribbean, coming in so low and close to the beach you can almost read the sunbathers’ newspapers below. It literally takes your breath away, says Adam Twidell, CEO of PrivateFly.com.
Should travel insurers pay up after volcano disruption?
- Rachel Mason is public relations manager at independent financial service providers Fair Investment Company. The opinions expressed are her own. -
Flights to and from the UK may have resumed in part, but the thousands cancelled over the past week as a result of the volcanic ash are estimated to have cost the airline industry 1.1 billion pounds.
Travellers could feel long-lasting impact of volcano disruption
- Professor Robert Bor is a clinical psychologist with a special interest in aviation and travel psychology. He has published several books on this topic. The opinions expressed are his own. -
The opening of UK airspace on Wednesday will clearly bring some relief to travellers stranded around the world. For others, their misery and feelings of fear and uncertainty will continue well after they have returned home, and that could be still a few weeks for now.
Why the Icelandic volcano could herald even more disruption
- Dr Andrew Hooper is an Assistant Professor at Delft University of Technology and is an expert on monitoring deformation of Icelandic volcanoes. The opinions expressed are his own. -
The unprecedented no-fly zone currently in force across much of Europe has already caused the greatest chaos to air travel since the Second World War. Thousands of flights have been cancelled or postponed with millions of travel plans affected.
Small businesses set to reap the rewards of eastern promise
– Ian Wheeler is vice president of marketing and distribution at Amadeus. The opinions expressed are his own.-
In the last year, 45 million tourists (near to the population of Spain) travelled from China to the West. In fact, tourism from China grew by an average of 27 percent a year between 2002 and 2008.
Predicting the economic effects of swine flu
- Marie Diron is senior economist at Oxford Economics. The opinions expressed are her own -
A swine flu pandemic would affect the economy via various channels involving supply and demand.
